Hi Grant,

That's a very interesting question you're asking. I won't attempt to answer it, because it's a huge question requiring specialist knowledge of current labour market conditions in Chilean mines. I don't have this knowledge. But you'll already know that a huge part of the Chilean economy is based on copper exports to China in particular. Incidentally, if you haven't already done seen it, can I point you to the BBC's latest episode of Tropic of Capricorn? This went to air last Saturday at 20.00. The domentary showed how Chilean copper mining companies are intent on extracting water from pristine, high-montane lakes at 4,000 metres in the region of San Pedro de Atacama. This is an environmental rather than a labour-market issue, but worth knowing about.

The copper market is sensitive to real and perceived threats to the supply chain. So any plan to introduce a fair-trade market would likely cause a few wobbles. I'd suggest you talk to a few producers and smelters for a reaction, but prepare your facts and ideas well in advance. Best of luck with your research. Don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of help in the future and I'd certainly be very interested in reading your conclusions when you've finished your research.

Hello Alistair, I'm writing from a university in the UK currently studying an economics module specifically regarding copper from Chile and introducing a Fair Trade pricing system. I read with great interest your report on Chemetco and wondered on your views about how a Fair Trade system could be introduced and any impact this could have on the global price of copper? I would be very grateful for any information or opinions you have and would be more than happy for you to receive the final piece.
Kind regards
Grant Hixon